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The Daily Reflector, Greenville, N. C.-Monday, Jenuery 20, 1909-f

Very Strange Case

T

s Earl Ray

- Part 2 -

By BERNARD GAVZER AP Newsfeatures Writer With the des4h of Martin lather King Memphis police l>gan tracking back for the man who fired the fatal shot. They had things to work with an abandoned rifle and a pair of binoculars. The receipt for the binoculars gave s< place and a datethe day before.

April 3, 1968In the afternoon some lime^ a man entered the right side door of York Arms

might make a half-inch entry hole and go in a quarter of an inch or so and become the size

of a quarter.) __________

Aeromarine fitted the telescopic sight to the weapon and tested it (Explains the rifle expert^ A rifle like that is zeroed in for 100 yards. If you fired it at a target 200 feet away say at a mans heart or chest, you might be highhitting him in the head.)

Enter the FBI

Deshazes acdount was Co. at 162 S. Main St., Memphis |enough to give the Federal Bu-and was ,\vaited on by Ralph reau of Investigation an Carpenter, 34, Immediate legal justification to

He wanted a pair of binocu-!get^ into the investigation be-lars, ays Carpenter. I I cause it described a possible showed him a pair of Bushnell | conspiracy since the purchaser 7x35. As binoculars go, it was'spoke of another person. A con-inexpensive, around $40. ,Good | spiracy to deprive a person of ones run to $200 or more. Or you!his civil rights is a violation of can get one for $79.95 thats!Title 18, Section 241, of the Unit-pretty good ;ed States Code. Federal of-

Carpenter toted the bill on the fenses, such as this are under grey-yellow-black box in which,

tions and other evidence indicated they all described one man. The contents of the abandon^ blue travel bagthe one that was dropped outside of Guy Canipes establishment at 424 S. Main St. in Memphiswas meticulously examined. The under wear had laundry marks. These were tied to machinery made by a New York firm It said it had sold such machines in the Los Angeles area. A pair of pliers also played a part in turning the investigation toward the West. FBI agents fanned through Los Angeles. They had a sketched version of the hunted man, a

name was picked up in the Atlanta rooming house although that is open to questiwi. The proprietor, who insists on anonymity^ said FBI agents had pickedup mail addressed to Galt, and adds: I cant fix the day they did first come. Another possibility is that they got it in Birmingham as they fanned through the city after tracing the Remington Gamemaster to Aeromarine Supply Co. Working with sketches based on various desciiptions m.ainly those of the people in the Memphis rooming house

Bushnell binoculars, DQ 408664 were contained. It included a binocular case and strap. Carpenter collected $41.05 in cash, put the binocular set in a grey-blue paner bag and thanked his customer.

Whether I could say that the binoculars the police have are

...... ^ and the salesman in York Arms

sharp-nosed fellow who seemed! Co.they could have found to be in his thirties. i Peter Cherpes, owner of the

In Shelby County. Dr. JerrylEcffiy.jGnll Rooms at Francisco, the county medical Highland Ave., who rented examiner, conducted an autopsy Sttrvo

the jurisdiction of the FBI.

Could Wood identify'the in an. would he be able to say that

and recovered a battered lead slug. This missile, the autopsy report said, killed Dr King.

Marked and identified, it was placed in the hands of the FBI crime laboratory experts. A ballistics specialist reported that

tor.

But a letter came for Galt five months after he had left. Cherpes says he didnt see it. But the Alabama Highway Pa,-trol sent wie out to Galt March 1, 1968. It contained a duplicate drivers license and a bill for 25 cents. The Highway Patrol, located in Montgomery, said the request for the duplicate came by telephone on Feb. 28 or 29. Capt. T. L. Payne said the duplicato was mailed the following day and under normal circumstances would have been delivered at 2608 Highland Ave.. Birmingham, the following day. As far as the Highway Patrol is concerned, it was, because it received the 25 cents and the returned bill on March 6.

room to an "ii.ric bttrvo Who made the call? Who re-Gal on Aug. 26, 1967, for $22!ceived the letter? Who sent the a week which included two125 cents. It could have been meals a day. A man using that | picked off the table by anyone name had staypd there until watching for it. The Eric Star Oct. 7, 1967.

Police Tip Their Hand

In any event, on the afternoon

Harvey U>wmyer was indeed f gZ 7^

James Earl Ray? Wood, a fair

haired young man, shook his head. I cant say anything to the press, he said.

\Miich way did the man go on leaving Aeromarine? Did he

the exact same ones, I just dont stay in the Birmingham area? kno\y, Carpenter said, i j Did he go on to Memphis? Or didnt write down any serial was he somewhere else alto-number on the sale. But I might'gether?

be able to say it is the same as He w'ent to Atlanta, a 155 mile

the one couldnt used Could

I sold. Thats all. I say how they were |

Had it been fired by the rifle recovered from the front of Guy Canipes place, to the exclusion of all other rifles? That's a secret, so far. The expert's answer is under the tight security placed on all such matter.

Carpenter identify the

trip on Interstate 20 and U.S. 78.

Eric Starvo Galt he called himself.

He was here on ' Sunday, _ .______________

man who made the purchase?, March 31, says the proprietor rifle, a right finger print on the He wouldnt say. of a rooming house in the north-; slight, a left thumb print on the

Earlier that day April 3, a east sector of Atlanta, The man; binoculars, man driving a white 1966 ^us- did not want his nr.me publi-tang arrived at the New Rebel cized, explaining, I had teams

Motor Hotel at 3466 Lamar Ave., which is near the interchange for US. 78 and Interstate 240. This would be one of

probably this broadcast that put

j the name Galt into circulation.

' The name Galt seemed solid.

Gaits all over the United States

w'ere chedied out. The FBI was

picking up enormous detail on

the mystery man.

Still, there was the Atlanta

roc.ming house and its bonanza

for the FBI. Two maps. One had

a vey good thumb print. One

TTien began the overwhelmingfour circled areas: Sunset

search of the FBIs overwhe'.-n-i i'?,; he location of Rev. Martin

ing fingerprint file. There is her Mng s home the Auburn

magic to speed the process, no i^ I?",!

licTUfnmtT Church uod the SCLC the Me-

vo Galt who had lived in Economy Grill and who had bought the white Mustang was supposedly in Los Angeles on those

around 5 p. m., the FBI moved

in and impounded the Mustang. March 2, he graduated

By a strange foul-up the Flori- toom the International School of da State Police broadcast an Bartending at 341 S. Alvardo, alert for a white Mustang driv- i Angeles. He signed on some en by an Eric Starvo Galt. This 1 time in February and paid $225 was at 5:22 p. m., and it was cash for the course.

Tracing the Prints Another FBI specialist, fingerprint expert George J. Bone-brake of Washington, D.C., carefully went over the rifle and scape, and the binoculars. He found a left thumb print on the

of FBI men grill me like I was

the one that did it.

This fella who called himself!lightning computer operationT*

^ . morial Drive location Capitol

Eric Galt came here on 3 and 24 that can take such prints and!u a u xu

the possible main highway ap ! (March 24), the man said. He unerringly find their match Project where the Mi^-

proaches from Birmingham,! pad me $10.50 for the week. He'From the hundreds of millions,abandoned, and the Ala., a distance of 250 miles had no baggage with him butithe FBI narrowed the search to! along US. 78. A man coming left and came back driving a lit-153,000 which had to be examined from Atlanta, could go west on tie white car. I did not know'card by card.

U.S. 78 and Interstate 20, to Bir-then it was a Mustang because li Ultimately Bonebrake was to mingham, which would make it haven't paid any. mind to cars 1 show that the thumb print on

a trip of 385 miles.

The man signed in as Eric S.

Galt. Miss Henrietta Hagermas-ter, the receptionist, said he was given ror.m 34. She reniem-; rooming house", bered him clearly, and later only two other lodgers there. It signed an affidavit that he was was a narrow roam because the actually a man identified in FBI prior property owner had con-photographs as James Earl i verted the house into a doctors

for a long time, especially them the rifle and thumb print on the little ones. binoculars each had 14 charac-i

That thumb print went beautifully with the prints off the rifle and binoculars.

Galt. Where had he been? Where was he going?

Tracking back, one stop was

The lodger was given a room teristic points of identity to I Cherpess Economy Grill

in an adjoining section of the those of James Earl Ray. The i We Serve Maxwell

one that had print on the sight had H points]

of identity A informs prospective lodg-

(In the fingerprint identifica-1 ^

tion technique, it is generally

acppnfpH thaf oiohf Ihome, set back from the street

Ray. He Mustang,

accepted that eight characteris-W'as driving a white |clinic. They were little bitty tic points are sufficient to show rooms,'

said the man so the

But where did he come from? doctor could run from one to an-The rifle provided that clue. It I other examining patients.

was a Remington 760 pump action rifle 30-06 cal. Serial No.

During that week on March 27 or 28, 1968, the operator saw

461476, fitted with a telescopic | Galt briefly. I w'as over to fix sight. No. A17350. It was traced I it up for renting and we just sx-to the Aeromarine Supply Co.,'changed hellos and that was which is on Airport Highway i about all. just outside the Birmingham,! Didnt see him again until Ala., airport I Sunday, on 3 and 31, said the

that the print belongs person, and no others).

to one

by a wide lawn. The door opens onto a bare floor bisected by a black runner. Tothe left, there

But this wasnt until April 19. J

On April 5, about 7 a.m., Mrs ^

John H. Riley looked out of the ^ with the

window of Apt. 492 at 551 Memo- xu " alummiim foil,

rial Drive, in Atlanta, to a

parking lot and noticed a white i? ,n mln manager

Mustang in the parking lot. She' coops for each

Donald Wood Jr.. was behind the counter of the shop and sold that weapon to a Harvev Low-

; hadnt seen it there before.

! Her son, Johnny Niesen, 13,

man. He said to me, T may as became curious about the car; well pay you now for another he noticed it had two Mexican week. And that paid him up to 4

Turista stickers and a lot of cigarette ashes and red mud on the drivers side About an hour and a half lateme in the day before and first; the rooming house would sweep | er another tenant in the Capitol

myer Saturday, March 30, and 7 (April 7). That was the 1968. He remembered the- cus-last tim& I saw him. tomer because the .man hadi A three mile arc drawn frc.'-n

tenant.

To the right, in a front room, the TV stands with its back to the window. There is a doorway to one of the bedrooms. The paint is chipped, showing different layers of colors from prior years. The wallpaper has come away in some places, weary of

(It was here at the bartending school, that the first photograph of Galt was obtained. FBI agents, combing Los Angeles because of service station stickers found in the door frame of the Mustang, came to the school and inquired about Galt. Tomas Reyes Lau, the owner, said Galt was in the course. He had- his application form and also a graduation picture. The photo showed a man in a bow tie with his eyes closed. The left ear jutted out .more than the right.

(There is no known evidence of Galt himself being in Birmingham in order to get the duplicate license).

Before then Galt had cut a fancy swath on the dance floor or at least in dance studios. One was the National Dance Studios at 2026 Pacific, in Long Beach, Calif. He signed for the course, sometime in December, paying director R. L. MacKay $500 cash in advance. (Ray re-pwtedly-says it was $465.)

I spent several hours with him, says MacKay in recalling the sales interview. He appeared to be a transient and seemed to have a need for lessons, Galt was an introverted type of fellow.

One thing about Galt that threw MacKay was his shoes. Alligator.

He had a pair of expensive alligator shoes. I know about those things since my family is in the shoe manufacturing tmsi-ness. He didnt wear them all

bought a .243 Remington rifle,: through an area of Atlanta' Housing Project, Mrs. Ernest ^ ^

which is the same as the Remington 760, except that it has a smaller caliber.

On March 30 when Low-myer returned,' there was another customer in Aeromariqe. He was John Deshaze of Mont-

touching the home of the Rev. Payne, noticed .rthe car coming Martin Luther King Jr. at 342 inf) the lot sometime before 9 Sunset Ave. and the Ebenezerj a.m., when her daughter was Baptist Church, where he I getting ready for school. She preached, at 406 Auburn Ave., said toe driver was between 25-

and the office of the Southern Christian Leadership Confer

gomery, Ala. He said the man ence, at 330 Auburn. The minis-related that he was going hunt-1 ter had come back from the tu-

30, about 510, about 170 lbs., sandy-colored hair.

Mrs. Riley said she thought about calling police the day she

ing in Wisconsin with his broth-!mult of Memphis and was noticed the car. I told

er or brother-in-law. He now wanted a 30-06, the Remington Gamemaster.

A rifle expert explains the difference: The .243 is fine for deer and varmints, but a 30-06, especially with 220 grain bullets, is fine for bear and large game. A .243 bullet, hitting a man 200 feet away, would probably have made a clean hole and gone through. But a 30-06, especially one that had been cut with an *X on the nose to make it a dum-dum, would have spread. It

spending time at home and with the church and the SCLC. It was Sunday, March 31, and he was at home.

On the evening of April 4 when police located toe rooming house bathroom from which the sniper fired his single round, there was only one name to work with: John Willard.

Soon they added Harvey Lowmyer. Eric Starvo Galt was to be added latermost

people

around here, she said. When that funeral was going on (the

Cherpes remambered Galt kindly. After Galt had gone and bought that white car,, it came time to get a drivers test.

Cherpes drove him. That was Sept. 6, 1967.

Once, Cherpes said, Galt received a package from (Chicago. Photographic equipment, as far as he knew. It was about 2 x 1 foot. Galt said he was going to send it back.

(In William Bradford Huies

funeral of Dr Kina^ T William eraaiora Huies

about calling then, but figured I ^eTvTtTa totaVo'mooO om [he

mysterious Raoul in Birming-

better not, all those people in town. She finally notified police and the FBI on April 10.

Thousands had come to Atlanta. In other cities of America there had been riots in the wake of Kings slaying. Many Atlantans were tense and worried that toe emotion of the funeral

likely on April 10. The names might trigger disorders.

were differentbut the descrip-

That same morning, Friday, April 5, was the usual maids cleanup day in the Atlanta rooming house about three miles from the Capitol Housing Project. In this day the cleaning woman didnt show up, so the proprietor had to do it.

ham on Aug. 30, 1967, with in structions to spend $500 for some photographic equipment. Ray, reportedly, had no idea what it was for).

The car was bought used from the man who owned it, a William D. Paisley, whose son works for Kaul Liim.ber Co.. in

CIRCLED FOR ACTION? An Atlanta map, reportedly found In a roominghouse occupied by James Earl tlay using the name Eric Starvo Galt had circles which were considered of prime significance. They., showed the location of Dr. Kings home on Sunset Ave.; the ministers church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, both on Auburn Ave>;

and the Capital Housing Project on Memorial Drive, where the white Mustang was abandoned. The uppermost circle, reportedly not on tht map, is added to Indicate the area in which the roominghouse was located. This a reconstruction of details on the map which reportedly had a thumb print Identified as that of James Earl Ray.

with Alabama license plates according to (Tlancy Dupepe, the motel owner.

He was back in Los Angeles Dec. 18, according to records of the National Dance Studios.

It was from Los Angeles that he wrote to the American Southern Africa Council, Suite N-1, 800 4th St. SW, Washington, D.C., on Dec 30, 1967, inquiring about emigration to Rhodesia. The council had been known as Friends of Rhodoesia.

(Th^ African nation might have interested any escaped

So was the Rev. Dr Martin night of March 22. He was In the Luther King Jr., who was at An-rooming house in Atlanta on aheim addressing the California [March 23. According to Huie,. Democratic Council. the departure from Los Angeles

next day, March 17, was signaled by the mystery

convict since it has no extradi-the time. We took it for an af-|tion agreement with the United fectation, says MacKay. States. A convict getting there There was a party just before would have asylum).

(Christmas given by one of the An incident which character-

The

Galt left the St. Francis. He i man, Raoul, left a forwarding address: Gen- The pursuit eral Delivery, Atlanta.

He headed east in the Mustang, going through New Orleans to Selma, Ala., where records of the Flamingo Motel, on Highway 80^ show he spent toe

of James Earl Rays life and times comes to the crucial moment of 6;0l p.m. plus, April 4, 1968.

What happened to him from that time on? How did he manage to vanish?

couples, and MacKay remembers Galt being there

ized Galt as a racist, at least in the eyes of habitues of The

Everyone was haying fun Rabbits'Foot Club at 5623 Hoi-but Galt was not mixing in too'lywood Blvd., supposedly oc-much. His teacher was actingjcurred in late March.

Sees New Era In Space Age Start

By CARL TVER Reflector Staff Writer On (October 4,

success of 73 per cent.

With every launching, man is achieving more first in tha fie

____________________. 1957, an era science field. For instance, with

as his escort. He was extremely I Morrison tending bar 'was opened that will last un-the launching of Apollo 8, man reticent, retiring. You would,53,^, xx^alt began talking to a*til the last person on earth is has traveled faster than.be ever

SLt Hni Vk named "Pate. The , has, been farther than he ever

Slight tmge of a southern ac- conversation turned to Negroes! The statement was made by has, and for the first time, a

whom she said were good peo-'Peter Hackes, of NBC News, in man has been completely out of

cent.

If he had any political inclinations, he never once men-

ple. Morrison said Galt started dragging her by the arm

It u.. X- X J ** predominantly Negro area in ciiuuciil /^ssut-iauun ui jcxd.-m ^ ^

onTrfh'inrr if M Angeles and was the site of rolina. Jules Bergman, of ABC f m. after the Apollo program

anyining, it wouiq be money. ^ _;_x ,i.viir<h a uirap iniAiawc nrirrihtiiKr c/'VtoriiiloW has been comoleted. nothins

a speech last Thursday on the f'f^ntact with earth, when tha campus of East Carolina Uni- Apollo crew reached the dark versity. , of the moon.

The talk was one of a series The space program is con-sponsored by the Student Gov- finuing as, Apollo 9 is scheduled ernment Association of East lift off on February 2, at 11

n,.f t money. |g which claimed 34 lives in'News, was originally scheduled completed, nothing

But one of the persons who iq,. ^ but could not make the Ise has yet been planned.

engagement. Hackes mentioned that some

has been with NBC

1965).

Bob

bar-:

knew Galt in a social way ^ had a different view. This was , j Del Monte, another Charles Stein, 38, a heard e d I customer,

song writer, who accompanied dating PatUe

Galt on a'trip to New Or- ^^ leans. i

Missouri

State

Hacke$.

for 15 years. Before coming to NBC, he was with CBS, and did radio broadcasting. He re-Penitentiaryiceived his MA in Journalism

Stein said his widowed sister,! icun,cuuai^t'-c*cvx 1..0 1.. uuu*.

Mrs. Rita Rosas 30 of conceive of at the University of Iowa,

wood had thought of going toi*^^"^^ Hackes spoke on the Space

New Orleans to pick up her two convicts tend! Program, and the advan c e-

------partners ments that have been made

Birmingham. He had placed ani^^^^htors. Galt volunteered * * xu i u tut*

advertisement in the Birming- <-ive her there it she and.i'^f**"' ?J> > since he launching of the first ........ ,

and received a call Charles would sign a petition to , d exercise walks or Sputnik by Russia in 19o7. Al- of these discoveries, such as

ham News from a man

Birming-

who said he wasjP^^*!^ George Wallaces name

people have criticized the tremendous spending that is required to maintajn the space program. He emphasized the fact that many new advancements have been made that benefit man. some of these being off-springs of discoveries made through the space program.

Hackes pointed out a few of

free time. Ray had no such hud- though science reporting i.s a

food that could feed

Eric Starvo Galt This was on the California ballot for Pres-would be seen with a specialty of his, Hackes has co- people in underveloped count-A., or, n_s.Il. Wn M iwhite convict one day and per- vered

Aug. 27. Paisley said he wanted! agreed, said Slein,,^ .

$1,995 Galt drove the car >*'a\iae we are from the Deep ^ ^

T was pulling the linens that J''

tv iha |agTBed to pay the asking price,

field

many areas of the new. such as the Wtoite House,

space age in

ries, new advancements in medical field, a paint that

me

A ill

Evidence Piles l.^p Stein said thev went to

day, the proprietor said.L.

About 10 30 a.m., I was in tbisi pamo ha i- aw n, fella Galts room. Hed left hisL, a T ^

key in the door and the key to nnHnn il? fw!f u a

the outside door was on the J peared so well-known that Stein co for five days and in Puerto ortant than anvthinc

dresser. There was a portable'P ""^ht he was a politician. Vallarla for a month. P[muied imon"^

TV and a couple of maps ThereNbtional*Ba[k"'H'*''..'e^ sister According to Huie's version of Man has mad quite an ad

was 3 note saying, , had opened the account Aue 28 Rays activities, Ray was treat- ygncement in the space protown. Be back sometime and aivina Kart rail t 'f Wallace North od by a plastic surgeon, Dr. Hackes staled When the

pick up TV.' I Ihted up the room^f,,^ re- Rusjel C. Hadley, at the Muir tirst biissles were being lau.....

m case get another tenant. ,he Hui-Ray story is "see['':Sain 1 on^'^MaPc^" 5'fhe''Xmrfc/\l';7hal['r'rate''o[

rhe-stiof'!s,e^;'e" ^ ^o^rproSni asait

at 10? m ''O'' Angele.s Dec. 15, 1967. and Ray used the name -Galt, and

Thoro oi.cuf t xx Galt staved at the wheel according to toe doctors rec

s^ch Lafayette g|| drinking .many cans ords, last visited him March 11

of beer, and mentioning a man at which time the sutures were

with an Italian sounding removed and he was asked to

name. (Rays published ac- return in six weeks

count says they left Dec 13). The dossier on Galt

Before California, before moy-, the Department of Defense, and not peel at temperatures up to

I'ir np 535 the Atomic Energy Commission 1800 degreees. and many others,

l.^rrano Ave., and to a room at Hackes com.mented toat since jgnuarv 30 the Stud e n t the the St. Francis Hotel, 5533 Hoi- the launching of the Sputnik, Government Association will

allace North Hollywood Head-lywood Blvd., Galt had spent the conquest of space has be- snonsor Art Buchwald a* i ts

quarters where Galt ap-some time in Mexico, in Afapul- come more costly and mors im- ucn\^aia a. i w

man has

next speaker in the Series.

w as

Ixcct u r

April 10-FBI headquartersin!fi"f-..ul pf "T. y Washington sent out an alert to III its field offices- Galt

MEMPHLS DETEnrVE looks at weapon abandoned out-ild<* the Cantpe Amusement Co. door, a few steps south of the entrance to the roominghouse from which the assassination shot allegedlv came.

IS in

possession of a white Mustang One theory is that the FBI had already been tipped to toe Mustang and had traced its Alabama licen.se 1-38993 to an Eric Starvo Galt of 2608 Highland Ave., Birmingham Could the FBI have been sitting on a stakeout waiting for someone to

St. address in St. Louis).

Cherpes said Galt gave a story about being a merchant seaman Seaman often have a bankroll alter a long voyage.

First Photo of GaJt

gram,

fir.st missies were being launched, an 11 per cent syccess Wxn.s good now we have a rate of

Ready Excuse In Drivers' Test

Launching Class In Auto Repairs

Applications are now being taken by Fitt Technical Institute for an adult course to begin soon on Automobile Emergency Repairs for Wtomen.

The pLu-.^yise of the course Is to teach women drivers safe and practical emergency procedures

come to the car? That! Galt, he said, did not seem tereid at the Provincial Motel,|traced. lnve.stigators

wouldn t be unusual, says a; to go out much, tended to keep 1024 Chartres St^. and was given where he had been. The

source dependably qualified to to himself, used the hall tele^ know FBI tactics. phone a good deal and so far as

Another theory is that the he could tell, never had a visi*

DARLINGTON, Englana _ _________

lUPI).Mrs, Edna Snowden, 52, overcoming automobile irou-was complained to officials of the b!es that may occur on the high-In New Orleans, they appar- getting fat and would get fatter Ministry of Transport automo- ways. The class will meet two entlv separated. 0311" regis the further back he could be, ^'ing center that .she times each week from 7:30 p.m.

knew failed to pass her test because to 9 30 p m., for four weeks, a pieces there was no ladies room total of 2C hours.

Room 126. The were coming together. As far as nearby and therefore she was Interested persons may rtg that G.alt was could be figured he was still in too nervous when taking ihe ister for the course by visiting

a single room regiirter sho

driving a white 1966 Mustang Ix>s Angeles March 16.

test.

'PTI or by calling 756-3130.